Kidney disease is a major health problem in the United States, afflicting some eight million Americans. Kidney and urinary tract diseases together affect an estimated 20 million people, causing more than 95,000 deaths a year and contributing to an additional quarter of a million. Kidney disorders run the gamut from minor infections to total kidney failure. Kidney disease can cause high blood pressure, anemia, and elevated cholesterol. When chronic, it can lead to depression and sexual dysfunction. Kidney stones, diagnosed in more than one million Americans annually, can be extremely painful and are a significant cause of hospital stays and lost work days.
There are many different kinds of kidney diseases. A disease of the kidney may be a short-term problem, and in this case might not cause permanent kidney damage. Examples include some kidney infections and kidney stones. Dehydration, trauma, and some medications can also cause temporary changes in kidney function. “Acute renal failure” is a sudden or rapid loss of kidney function. Acute failure may be reversed, or it may sometimes lead to permanent loss of kidney function.
More often, diseases that affect the kidney are chronic problems. “Chronic renal failure” is a loss of kidney function that occurs gradually and is often “silent,” going undetected for months or years. In this case, once it is detected, kidney function may be monitored by periodic blood or urine tests from year to year. Examples of chronic diseases that cause kidney damage over many years are high blood pressure, diabetes, and polycystic kidney disease. When the kidneys permanently lose ninety percent or more of their function, a person is diagnosed with “end-stage renal disease.”
Diagnosis and treatment of kidney problems have improved significantly in the past 30 years. Even individuals with complete kidney failure can now lead reasonably normal lives because of modern dialysis techniques and new successes in transplantation. Today dialysis keeps alive more than 120,000 Americans who would otherwise perish because of kidney failure. Kidney transplants, first performed in the United States some 30 years ago, have saved the lives of thousands more.
Treatments for kidney disease such as dialysis and organ transplantation, however, are used as a last resort of treatment and presents serious risks to an individual suffering from a kidney disease. What is needed is an improved understanding of the pathophysiology of kidney disease and improved treatment options for treating kidney disease.